The Parkinson’s Interest Group (PIG) integrates research groups belonging to the KU Leuven, University Hospital Leuven (UZ Leuven) and the VIB Center for Brain & Disease Research (VIB-CBD). These institutes house a vibrant community of world-leading Parkinson’s disease (PD) researchers including clinical investigators, geneticists, and experimental biologists.

The PIG organized 5 bimonthly seminars featuring presentations from 3 research labs per event. Though this seminar series was not initially planned, PIG observed how the work of the different labs naturally converged into 4 main themes representing the current hot topics in the PD field:

post-GWAS studies
molecular mechanisms of disease
gut-brain axis and immune system-brain interactions
and advanced therapies

Thanks to these seminars, and despite the lack of physical interaction, several fruitful collaboration initiatives have been set in motion. Now, we will bring the members of the PIG together in a live symposium.